Mercedes-AMG One Sets New Nürburgring-Nordschleife Record

The record-breaking drives on October 28, 2022, were hard to beat in terms of excitement: at exactly 17:14:31, racing driver and AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel took to the track for the last attempt of the day and burned the new, fabulous time into the legendary and demanding Eifel asphalt. This was truly not a minute too early, because the track would have been officially closed at 17:15. Although Maro Engel had already set a new best time beforehand, the DTM driver was not yet satisfied. Towards the end of his track slot, the conditions were getting better by the minute. Thus, Maro Engel took advantage of the very last opportunity and improved the lap time to the new official record of 6:35.183 minutes.

“That was really an unforgettable experience,” said Maro Engel after completing the record lap. “I didn’t expect that we would be able to set such a lap time with these track conditions. In some crucial areas of the track, it hadn’t dried completely yet and was therefore tricky. That was a special challenge. We tried to find the optimal deployment strategy during the pre-tests. Like Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on their race weekends, I also had to deploy the electrical energy of the hybrid drive in the best possible way. That’s not easy, especially with this length of track. In addition, the DRS function had to be used optimally. But that’s also a real Formula 1 feeling. I would like to thank you for this opportunity and the trust you’ve placed in me. It was definitely something very special to drive this incredible car on the Ring.”

“I’m proud of the whole AMG team – everyone who was involved in this project. The various departments in Affalterbach as well as our colleagues at HPP in Brixworth never gave up and continued to push the dream of this vehicle. This success is a well-deserved reward for their hard work. Even though the AMG ONE is certainly more at home on a Grand Prix circuit than on the Nordschleife – as is so often the case with this project – we’ve simply gone one step further. We’re the first ever to have taken on the challenges of the Nürburgring with a super sports car. That’s also what makes this project so unique and I’m very happy about this fantastic lap time,” said Philipp Schiemer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes‑AMG GmbH.

Intelligent driving for optimal energy management
The record lap in the hybrid super sports car with Formula 1™ technology required not only driving skills but also an intelligent driving style: Maro Engel used special energy management for the lap of the 20.8 km Nordschleife. This means that he could not accelerate to the maximum possible speed on all sections of the track, but also had to manage his energy. To do this, he used the four-stage Energy Flow Control (EFC) of the AMG ONE and let off the gas a little earlier in some sections, known as “lift and coast” in technical jargon. In addition, Maro also used energy recovery in the braking phases. Thus, even on the long Döttinger Höhe, the high-performance battery still offered enough power for a 338 km/h top speed.